To Live Like A King
by namashe
Summary: Shiro's father died when he was seven and ever since then his life has been horrible. Will it ever get better?
1. Chapter 1

The bell rang signaling the end of school. Ichigo waved good-bye to the rest of his friends and set of with Chad and Rukia. Chad's house was in the same direction as Ichigo's and Rukia was staying with Ichigo since her brother Byakuya was on a business trip.

"Man that Math assignment is so fucking long!" Ichigo said.

"That's just because you suck at math." Rukia answered.

Chad nodded in agreement. Ichigo scowled and was about to reply when they heard a cry of pain from an ally ahead of them. The small group ran into the ally to see three men beating someone on the ground. Ichigo ran forward and grabbed one of the larger men off their victim; the man stumbled back in surprise giving Ichigo a chance to give him a hard kick in the stomach. The man doubled over in pain.

Ichigo turn to see his friends take down the other two men. He turned back to the guy they had been beating up.

"Are you oka-" A fist slammed into his jaw making him see stars and fall to the ground.

"Ichigo!" he heard Rukia cry out. He felt Chad grab his arm and lift him back up. He tasted blood and shook his head to clear the stars away. The inside of his cheek burned where he had bitten it. Ichigo looked at the guy who had punched him.

He was strange looking. His spiky hair and skin were completely white but the strangest part was his eyes. Gold irises surrounded by black, not white like they should have been. He looked about sixteen. He was dressed in a dirty gray T-shirt and a ripped up pair of blue jeans. He stood up and dusted himself off.

"Why the hell did you punch me?!" Ichigo asked angrily.

"Because I could've won if you hadn't gotten in my way!" the strange boy answered back frustratedly.

Two of the guys they had pulled off the boy had gotten up and were helping the third one up. Chad and Rukia turned to them, Rukia giving them a dangerous look. The three guys quickly hurried out of the ally. When they were at a safe distance one of them flipped them the bird and yelled "Shiro you basterd! We'll get you for this!"

They walked away then turned a corner out of site.

"And don't come back assholes!" the boy named Shiro yelled after them. He shot an angry look at Ichigo and his friends before sauntering out of the ally. It didn't hide the fact that he was limping.

"That was rude! We save him and he yells at us!" Rukia said angrily.

Ichigo watched him turn a corner and disappear. "Jerk." He muttered.

They walked out of the ally and continued on their way silently. Ichigo was glad that they weren't talking since his jaw still hurt from where that weird looking kid had clocked him.

They waved good-bye to Chad as he turned down a corner to his own house. They walked a few more blocks to Ichigo's house. They stepped inside and kicked off their shoes. Yuzu looked at them through the doorway of the kitchen and smiled.

"I'm starting to make supper and it should be ready in an hour." She noticed the red mark growing on the side of Ichigo's chin. "Who did you get into a fight with now?"

"Some jerk I tried to help punched me." He scowled.

Yuzu sighed and went back into the kitchen. Karin came out of the living room.

"Hey Rukia, can you help me with my homework?" she asked.

"Sure." The two went into the living room. Ichigo climbed the stairs to his room and dropped his bag by his desk and sat down.

_Great, Math._ He thought, pulling out his homework and began working on it.

*About an hour later*

Ichigo sighed and dropped his pencil on his desk, happy that his homework was done. Wonderful smells from down stairs made his stomach rumble hungrily, it made him wonder what Yuzu was cooking.

Suddenly he heard a scream from down stairs. It was Yuzu. Ichigo jumped up ran out of his room and was at the top of the stairs when he heard Rukia's voice.

"Yuzu what's wron-" her worried voice turned into a scream.

Terrible ideas ran though his head as he ran down the stairs. Panicked, his socked feet almost slipped on the stairs. Running into the kitchen he saw Yuzu and Rukia huddled in the corner, eyes wide with fear.

"What's the matter? What's wrong?" Ichigo asked in a panicked hurry.

Yuzu pointed a trembling finger at the wall above the sink. On the wall was a huge black spider. Ichigo's face went blank. They made him run all the way down here in a panic for_**That?!**_

He walked over to the sink and quickly used the heel of his palm to squish the spider. He turned back to the two girls.

"Seriously!?" he pointed a finger at Yuzu "You I can understand" he moved his finger to point at Rukia, "but you! I've seen you take down guys twice your size!"

She crossed her arms, "Well the guys I fought didn't have eight hairy legs!"

Before Ichigo could continue to argue his dad ran in from the clinic.

"I heard screaming!" he said worriedly.

"Yuzu saw a spider." Ishin jumped and looked around franticly saying "Where! Where!"

"Ichigo squished it." Yuzu said.

Ishin made a sad face. "Oh the poor thing! My son is so cruel to hurt a defenseless creature!"

Karin walked in from the living room.

"I don't want to know do I?" she asked Ichigo.

"No, no you don't"

A timer went off. Yuzu turned off the stove were two pans sat steaming.

"Dinner is ready." she said.

"Finally, I'm starving!" Rukia made a plate and sat down to eat. Everyone immediately fallowed her lead and ate.


	2. Chapter 2

*Somewhere in downtown Karakura*

"I'm sorry sir, but he got help!" the man cowering in front of him said.

"That's still no excuse for losing! Especially to that freak!" the fat man replied angrily.

The fat man was dressed in expensive clothes and wore gold jewelry. The three fearful men in front of him wore normal street clothes; they stood waiting for their punishment.

The fat man paced angrily in front of them, trying to decide on how to punish them. He stopped as an idea grew in his head. He grinned and the three men shifted uncomfortably in front of him. The fat mans face grew serious.

"All right, I'll give you a second chance." The men relaxed, relief written across their faces.

"But" he paused for dramatic effect and was rewarded when they stiffened in fear. "If you don't get him this time the punishment will be twice as harsh."

The men shivered at imagining what would happen if they failed again.

* * *

*Karakura apartment complex*

Shiro slowly walk up the stairs to his apartment where he lived with the bitch (what he always called his mother.) The beating he got was really starting to catch up to him, his sides ached from where they had kicked and punched him, and his left ankle protested by shooting pain up his leg with ever other step. He just hoped he hadn't sprained it.

He walked up to his apartment, number six but one of the screws had come loose and the number had flipped upside down to make a number nine. He pushed the door open and walked into the mess that waited.

Dirty clothes, moldy food, and wrappers littered the floor. His mother sat smoking on a stained couch watching TV. She turned to look at him, her face wrinkling up in disgust.

"What happened to you, boy?" she asked, her voice was raspy from smoking heavily for years.

"Got in a fight."

"Better have won then. Oh and stay in your room tonight because I got a guest coming." She turned back to her show and ignored him.

_Great, another "guest" I wonder what this one will be addicted to?_ He thought darkly as he walked down a small hallway to his room. The last "guest" they had been a crack addict.

He walked into his small room. Some how he had kept it relatively clean, just a small pile of dirty clothes next to his half made bed. Next to the bed was a nightstand with a digital alarm clock, some change, and a small, faded picture on it.

He picked up the picture and scowled. The picture was of a man wearing a black suit and sunglasses. Angrily he opened a drawer, shoved the picture inside, and slammed the drawer shut.

He left the room and walked into the bathroom. He looked in the mirror and saw a bright red mark on his cheek. He pulled his shirt of and saw several large, dark red marks on his torso that would inevitable become black and blue bruises. He reached down and pulled up his left pant leg, his ankle was slightly swollen but wasn't as bad as he thought. Opening the medicine cabinet, he took a couple of pills out of half empty a bottle of ibuprofen and swallowed them.

He thought about the men who he had fought. He had feeling that they were Omeada's men.

Walking back into his room he grabbed a slightly cleaner shirt from the pile and pulled it on. It was black with the words "cereal killer" written in letters made of small bones, a skull with spoons crossed underneath it was pictured above the words.

He heard the door open and slam shut. That must be the "guest", oh boy.

Shiro felt his stomach growl hungrily. He tried to remember the last time he ate. Hmm… that morning he had piece of buttered toast, nutritious. He really didn't want to go out there and see what kind of person would date the bitch; personally he still didn't understand why anyone would want to date her.

Finally his hunger won over and he walked out to the kitchen. The sink was overflowing with dirty dishes and the paint was starting to peel off the walls. He pulled open the fridge and looked in side to see what little they had. A half eaten sandwich, a pickle jar with two pickles left inside, half a gallon of milk (which was probably spoiled), and a tub of butter.

_Nothing like variety is there? _He thought sarcastically.

Grabbing the pickles and butter, he walked over to the counter and pulled out a fork and a butter knife. He opened the bag of bread only to find that it was stale.

He fished out the pickles and ate them. Then he buttered two pieces of bread and was just about to walk back to his room when he saw her glaring at him from the couch, some guy sitting next to her.

"What the hell are you doing boy! I thought told you to stay in your room!"

_Well someone is PMSing. This day is just getting better and better, isn't it_?

"I got hungry, is that a crime?"

She's getting pissed now; her face is starting to turn dark red. "I'll show you what's a crime when I strangle you."

Shiro snorted, "Fine, I'll go back to my room so you two can fuck and then he can pay you for it."

She now turned some kind of purplish red, she stood up and said "You little basterd!"

Before she could come over and try to beat the shit out of him, the man stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder. This was the first time Shiro had gotten a good look at him.

He had a short brownish beard that had crumbs stuck in it and long, greasy hair. A large beer gut strained against his plaid shirt. Shiro guessed he was a trucker.

"I'll take care of it." His voice was deep and gravely.

He stuck his hand in his pocket and walked closer. The closer he got the stronger the smell of stale beer got. His hand came out of his pocket with a pocketknife. He flipped it open.

_Shit._ Shiro knew he was in no shape for a fight and even if he was there wasn't much of a chance of him winning against a knife with just his hands.

The man got close enough to swing at him. Shiro dodged, the knife flying uncomfortable close to his face. Shiro kicked him in the knee. He swore but didn't go down.

Taking a chance Shiro ran for the door, flinging it open and feeling slightly relieved when it wasn't locked. His relief didn't last long. He heard heavy steps coming from behind him.

Not looking back Shiro ran down the stairs and out of the apartment complex. It had grown dark out.

Running to the street he took a left and ran down to the corner before looking back. The man stood at the entrance to the complex, watching him.

Finally the man yelled, "And don't you come back!" His voice rumbling like thunder. He turned and walked into the complex.

Shiro turned and continued down the block. The street lights started to flicker on. The growing bruises on his sides ached and his ankle burned slightly but the ibuprofen was finally starting to kick in.

Now to figure out where to go. He knew it was just a matter of time before the bitch threw him out, it just surprised him that it took her this long.

While pondering what to do, Shiro heard some one laugh behind him. Turning around he saw about five men coming out of the ally behind him. Two of them were holding pipes.

"What do you want? I don't have money so there's no use robbing me." Shiro said testily, he really wasn't in the mood to be messed with.

"Well that's no good. Omeada won't be happy with us if we didn't get his money back." The man who was probably the leader said. He grinned, "Or maybe we could take you back and you can take our punishment for us."

The men behind him laughed. They started moving forward.

_Everyone just wants to kill me today don't they?_ Shiro turned and started to run, his body screaming in protest. The men shouted as they chased him, like a pack of hounds that are after a rabbit. He ran left at the corner and then immediately turned into an ally. The men went running past, still yelling.

He heard them farther down the street, they started yelling in frustration for not knowing which direction their prey had gone. One of them yelled to split up.

Shiro started running to the other end of the ally before one of them could come down it. Once on the street he looked around figure out where he was. He had no idea. He could still hear Omeada's men yelling but it was starting to fade away.

Shiro started to walk across the street. He looked back at the ally he had come from to see if he was being fallowed. He wasn't.

_Idiots._

Suddenly he saw a car come racing around the corner and coming straight at him.


	3. Chapter 3

Incredibly bright headlights shone into his face, making him freeze. His brain screamed for him to move but his legs stayed frozen.

Time slowed down, the car was coming slower than it should have been. Seconds felt like hours.

Something clicked in his brain and Shiro regained control of his legs. He jumped out of the way of the lights.

He wasn't fast enough.

The side mirror on the driver's side slammed into his right side. He went flying, landing with a thump that knocked the breath out of him. Dazed, he heard the car screech to a halt and someone shout something. Shiro's brain couldn't focus on what they said. The car sped off, leaving him alone.

He laid there for a while, brain full of fog. Finally the pain started to cut through the fog and making him groan. His body hurt like hell and being hit by a car didn't help. God, all he wanted to do was sleep right where he was, even if it was concrete.

Then he remembered, Omeada's men.

_Shit._ He didn't know if any of them where close enough to hear him being hit by a car and he didn't want to stick around to find out. He sat up and immediately regretted it. His ribs exploded with pain, making him gasp.

Sitting still, he gentle touched his hand to his ribs and quickly pulled back as the burning pain got worse. Great, add broken ribs to the injury list.

He stood up slowly, his legs shaky. His eyelids felt heavy, he looked around for a place to sleep for the night since he had no where else to go and even if he did, there was little chance of him getting there without collapsing first.

Walking unsteadily into an ally and went to sit beside a dumpster, next to the side facing away from the street. Leaning against the ally wall, his eyelids finally won and Shiro was forced to sleep.

* * *

*Kurosaki house hold*

"Thank you again Mr. Kurosaki for letting me stay here while my brother is gone."

Ichigo listened to Rukia thank his father for the hundredth time for letting her stay for the week. This was her last day here since her brother Byakuya was coming home from his business trip.

"I hope I wasn't to much trouble. Normally I would have stayed with Orihime but she already has guests." She continued.

Rangiku was staying with Orihime because her apartment flooded. That wasn't much of a problem since she had to guest rooms but Toshiro was also there since his guardian, Mr. Ukitake, was in the hospital again due to his lung problems.

"Oh my dear Rukia, you were no trouble at all." His father started to fake cry, "But the house will feel so empty with out you!"

At this point Ichigo had enough. He walked over to his father and punched him.

"Come on Rukia, we're going to be late for school." She grabbed her bag and fallowed him out the door.

Ichigo remembered the day Rukia asked to stay with them. Isshin had agreed but that didn't mean she could stay. Her brother was had to make sure where she was staying was appropriate. That's why Byakuya had to inspect ever inch of the house before he would allow his precious adopted sister to live with them for a week.

He didn't like Byakuya much. Actually to put it more simply, Ichigo thought he was a prick. His superior attitude and pride pissed Ichigo off deeply. But he guessed Byakuya wasn't that bad if he cared enough to see who Rukia was staying with and Rukia seemed to adore him, even though he was kind of a control freak. All in all, he was a good guy who just needed to get the sick out of his ass.

The walked the few blocks to school in silence. When they arrived, a large number of students had already arrived and were talking in their small social groups. Quickly finding their group (which was just Chad, Renji, and Tatsuki at the moment), Ichigo listened to what his friends were saying.

Tatsuki and Renji were arguing over who would win in the next UFC fight, Zakari Kenpachi or Gamma Akutabi. Chad listened silently.

"No way. Kenpachi will break him like a tooth pick." Renji said loudly.

"In your dreams. Kenpachi is strong but Gamma is faster and could take him down before Kenpachi even saw him coming." Tatsuki argued.

Rukia walked over and started arguing for Gamma as well. Finally Renji got frustrated and said, "You two only want him to win because you think he's hot."

The girls immediately started to deny it.

"So Renji, does that mean you think Zakari is hot?" Ichigo asked, grinning.

"Hell no!" an angry Renji almost shouted. That only made Ichigo grin more.

Renji made a threatening gesture as Orihime, Rangiku, and Toshiro walked up. Orihime and Rangiku were talking about a new recipe of chocolate chip cookie they had invented. Toshiro had a very dark scowl on his face.

Ichigo gave him a quizzical look. "What's with you?"

His scowl deepened when he answered. "You try living with those two. They're driving me up the fucking wall!"

Ichigo snickered. "Most of the guys in school would love to switch places with you."

Toshiro snorted. "I would be glad to switch places. Then they can eat their cooking."

The thought of their cooking made them both grimace. Sometimes Orihime would bring some of her creations to school for them to try at lunch. Ichigo would eat them to be polite if she was at the table but if she wasn't then he would just hide it in his napkin and throw it away. He would tell her it was good so she would feel happy but unfortunately that encouraged her to bring more.

Ishida walked up and pushed his glass back up his nose with a finger.

"_Why can't he get better fitting glasses?"_ Ichigo thought.

"Who did you get in a fight with?" he asked. He pointed at the dark bruise on Ichigo's chin.

Before he could answer, a loud bell went off signaling the beginning of school. Students started to push their way to the doors of the school.

"I'll tell you at lunch." He said and fallowed the rest of the students into the school for class.

* * *

*Somewhere in Karakura*

Shiro woke up slowly and shivered. He looked around the ally and became confused. How had he gotten there?

He shifted and ribs burst burned with pain. Last night's memories came rushing back to him. The pain in his ribs got worse and he tried to keep his breathing shallow to keep the pain down.

"_Shit, life hates me and I hate it back."_ He stood up slowly; stiff muscles and sore bruises protesting.

He need to get medical attention but there was no way he was going to a hospital. Doctors asked questions, questions led to police asking questions and once they figured out how he had been living the past nine years they'd probably send him to a foster home. There was no way in hell he was going to a foster home.

He had to go to Mayuri. Mayuri was a street doctor and he didn't ask questions but he was expensive. The last time Shiro went to him it had cost him a thousand bucks just to get a badly infected cut in his leg cleaned and stitch up. He had to barrow the money and that's how he got into the mess with Omeada. But still, owing money to Omeada was better than owing money to Mayuri. The mad scientist would probably have perform experiments or dissect him or something since he couldn't pay.

He walked out of the ally, warm sunlight shining down on him. How long had he been asleep? A car drove down the street past him. Shiro realized he was somewhere near that damned school he was supposed to go to.

His stomach growled hungrily.

He stuck his hand in his pocket and it came back with two dollar bills. Great, he could buy two things on the dollar menu at McDonalds. He scowled; sure he could always steal food but stealing was more trouble then it was worth. Every time he walked into a store the costumers and staff would gawk at him like they'd never seen an albino before, hadn't they ever been told that staring is impolite?

A small shop called the Urahara shop sat at the end of the street. Shiro walked down to it and stepped inside. The store was empty except for a boy with red hair sweeping the floor and a slightly older girl that sat behind the counter.

Shiro walked to the freezer section in the back and looked at the cold sandwiches. Picking a ham and cheese one, he took it to the counter where the girl asked shyly if he had found everything he wanted. Looking at the small things for sale on the counter he saw a stand with cookies for twenty-five cents. Grabbing one he set it on the counter with the sandwich. She handed him his change (an outstanding fifteen cents) and told him to have a nice day.

"_Fat chance."_ He thought.

Shiro walked outside and took the packaging off his sandwich. Looking around he tried to decide what to do. He had nowhere to go and no money. He took an angry bite of his cookie (it was M&M) and started walking.

* * *

*Karakura high school cafeteria*

Ichigo reached into a drown paper bag and pulled out a sandwich Yuzu had made for him. His friends chatted happily in conversation around the table they were sitting at.

Ishida sat down at the table with a lunch tray. He turn to Ichigo, "So who did you get into a fight with?"

"Yah, I was wondering who hit you cause I want to thank him." Renji said.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Some kid named Shiro was getting his ass handed to him so I try to help him and as a thank you he punches me."

"Wait you mean that albino kid?" Rangiku asked from across the table.

Ichigo was surprised, "Yeah, you know him?"

She shook her head, "Of course not silly, but I know of him. He suppose to be some gangster with drug problems. Do you really think I would know some one like that?"

Rangiku was a huge gossiper so of course she would know every thing about everybody.

"No I was just surprised that you knew about him. I don't think he goes to school around here." Ichigo said.

She gave him a surprised look. "But he does go to this school." She made a thoughtful look, "though I guess he does skip a lot."

"Hey Rangiku!" They looked to see Hisagi waving her over to table were Kira, Ikkaku, and Yumichika were seated. Rangiku bounced up and walked over to them.

Ichigo took a bite from his sandwich and chewed slowly, thinking. Wouldn't he have noticed if an albino was going to school here? Sure, if he was the quiet type but Ichigo didn't think Shiro would stay quiet very long.

Ishida pushed his tray away and pulled a case out of his bag. Opening it, he pulled out a piece of cloth and a seam ripper then set to work.

"_Does he need to do that at the table?"_ Ichigo wondered.

The rest of the lunch period past by quietly and the bell rang for classes to begin again.

* * *

*The park*

Shiro had walked around for a while before ending up in the park. The park was empty except for him, everyone else was probably at school or work. He watched an empty swing set seat sway in the breeze.

With his food gone and nothing to do so he had sat on a bench for a while. Sitting there, he tried to figure out what to do. He needed cash so the obvious thing was to get a job. Who would hire him though?

A bell rang in the distance. The schools must be getting out. Great, the last thing he need was to have some little kid come up to and ask why he looked so weird. Getting up, he started to walk across the empty soccer field.

"Hey Shiro! We've been looking for you." A voice said behind him.

Turning around he saw a man with his hands in his pockets, looking smug.

"Tell Omeada I don't have his money and to leave me the fuck alone." Shiro said, his voice angry.

The man shook his head in mock sadness, "Sorry but we can't do that."

He stuck two fingers in his mouth and made a loud whistle. Two men walked up behind him, each had a crowbar.

Shiro turned to run across the fields but stopped when he saw two more men coming across it.

_Shit._ He turn another direction to try and get away. The first man had come up next to him and slammed a fist into Shiro's gut, making him gasp and fall to his knees. His ribs flared in pain.

Making a fist, he punched out at the first man. He got lucky and nailed him in the groin. The man doubled over while cursing loudly. Shiro pushed himself up and turn to leave but the other four men were blocking his escape.

The man he had punched was also back up and this time he had a switchblade. His face was twisted with rage. He swung the blade at Shiro, Shiro put his right arm to try and block it. The blade bit deep into his forearm, he had to clamp his jaw shut so he wouldn't cry out in pain.

Shiro stepped back and felt one of the men trip him. He land on his back, before he could get up the man with the blade slammed his foot hard onto Shiro's chest. This time he couldn't stop the cry of pain as sharp, unbearable pain burst in his side.

Black swirled at the edges of his vision. He realized the pain was going to make him pass out. The pressure on his chest didn't ease up and blackness spread slowly across his eyes.

He heard the men shouting but Shiro was losing focus and couldn't understand what they said.

He needed to get up, needed to fight and get away. His consciousness slipped and his thoughts dimmed.

…_..Shit….._

Darkness.

* * *

-**author's note-**

Sadly Christmas break is over (sobs) so more chapters will take a while.

i feel so bad for making Shiro's life suck so bad but he must suffer for this story.

thanks for the wonderful reviews :)


	4. Chapter 4

The bell rang for the end of school. Relieved to be out of the most boring class in the world (history), Ichigo walked down the hall to the exit. Someone started to yell his name loudly from somewhere down the hall behind him.

"IIICCHHHIIIIGGGGGOOOO!!!!!!!!" The ever-excitable Kiego yelled, running up to him.

Just before Kiego reached him, Ichigo sidestepped and stuck out an arm. Kiego was going to fast stop and effectively close lined himself on Ichigo's arm. Mizuiro walked up at a much calmer pace.

"Hey, Mizuiro. How's it going?" Ichigo asked, ignoring a whining Kiego.

"Not much. You?" he asked.

Kiego stood next to them and complain about being ignored which just made the other two ignore him even more.

"I'm going to go hang out with a bunch of the guys at Renji's uncle's shop, apparently he's trying to get a poker tournament going. You can come to if you want."

Mizuiro thought about, "I could for a little while but I'd have to leave early to get ready for a date."

"How come I don't get to come? And why does he always get dates?! I feel so unwanted!" Kiego whined.

Ichigo sighed in annoyance. "Fine you can come."

He walked with the two out of the school. Groups of students stood around either waiting to get pick up or waiting for their friends. He immediately spotted Renji's bright red hair. Renji stood talking to Toshiro, Ishida, Rukia, Tatsuki, and Orihime. As Ichigo walked up he heard them argue over what card games they should play.

"What about Black Jack?" Toshiro wondered

"Or how about Texas hold'em?" Ishida asked.

"I don't have any chips and Black Jack is too easy. We could play Gin." Renji answered.

"What do you mean you don't have any chips? You have to play poker with chips." Tatsuki said.

"I know what we could play!" Orihime said excitedly, "Go fish!"

The group just stared at her. Rangiku walked up with Kira, Chad, and Hisagi.

"I found some more people to play with us!" Rangiku said pointing at the three.

"Didn't Ikkaku and Yumichika want to play?" Rukia asked.

Kira shook his head, "They said they had better things to do."

"So are we going to stand here or we going to go play?" Hisagi asked impatiently.

The large group began its journey to Renji's uncle's place. Rangiku made a comment that made everyone in earshot blush. Rukia, Tatsuki and Orihime talked excitedly about the new Chappy Bunny items that were produced by a large company called Soul Society. Renji and Ishida talked about what they thought would happen during the next episode of a popular show hosted by a guy named Don Kan'onji, Chad listening silently and Ichigo scowled because he hated the show.

They were passing by the park when Orihime asked a question that made everyone stop and listen.

"Tatsuki, will you teach me to fight?" Orihime asked.

"Well, uh, I uh…." Tatsuki stuttered. everyone knew Orihime wasn't the fighting type but Tasuki wasn't sure how to tell her that.

"You don't want to learn how to fight." Renji said coming to Tatsuki's rescue and smirked, "You'll end up with pretty little bruises like Ichigo has."

"Well if you think they're so pretty I could give you a few." Ichigo grinned darkly.

"I'd like to see you like to see you try, _Strawberry._" Renji taunted.

Anger made his checks turned a slight color of pink (one of the reasons why he was called strawberry). Renji and Ichigo made fun of each other all the time but this was pushing it. Ichigo took a step forward.

"Please don't fight." Orihime pleaded and tried to step between the two. Some one made a loud whistle off in the distance. Ichigo put his arm up and gentle pushed Orihime out of the way. Renji wasn't going to get away with calling him that.

Someone put a heavy hand on his shoulder. Turning side ways he saw Chad pointing off into the soccer field. Confused, Ichigo looked.

A small group of people stood in a rough circle at the edge of the soccer field. He could see what looked like a fight going on in the middle of it. Then one of the fighters went down.

His anger forgotten, Ichigo ran off with Chad took off into the park; Renji, Ishida, Hisagi, and Kira not far behind. They heard a cry of pain from the person on the ground as the other slammed his foot onto his chest.

One of the men that made the circle had his back to Ichigo. Ichigo planted a hard kick to the middle of his back and sent him flying into another guy, knocking them down.

"What the hell?" The winning fighter said, looked up from his victim.

The two guys Ichigo had knocked over were back on their feet and one of them had a crowbar. He swung it at Chad with an angry scream. He missed and his eyes wide eyes when Chad grabbed the crowbar from him. While he was distracted, Ichigo gave the man a kick that sent him crashing to the ground and this time he didn't get up. The rest of the guys that had fallowed Chad and Ichigo walked up beside them.

Surprised, the rest of the men from the fight backed up. The one who had been fighting and was probably the leader looked at the challenging group in front of him. He made an angry face, knowing they were out numbered. He ordered his men to retreat, two of them picking the man off the ground, and quickly walked away.

With them gone Ichigo looked down to see who they had beaten up. He was surprised to see the same guy from yesterday. His eyes were shut and he wasn't moving. A large bruise stood out darkly on the pale skin of his cheek.

The rest of the group came running up.

"Oh god, is he dead?" Kiego asked in a small, high-pitched voice.

To everyone's surprise Orihime pushed herself to the front of the group and leaned down next to Shiro. She checked his pulse and shook her head.

"No but he's out cold." She said.

Then started pushing lightly on different spots on his left arm. Ichigo realized she was checking for broken bones, he had seen his father do that many times in the clinic. Ichigo wondered how she had learned that.

Satisfied with his left arm she moved to his right side. She gasped; looking over Ichigo saw a large, bloody cut on his arm still bleeding. Moving quickly next to her, Ichigo placed a hand over the wound and pressed down to try and slow the bleeding. Warm blood started to trickle between his fingers.

"Ishida, do you have a large piece of cloth?" Ichigo asked in an urgent tone.

He nodded and pulled out his sowing case, opened it, and pulled out a large strip of light blue cloth. Taking it, Ichigo started to rap the cloth around Shiro's arm. A dark red spot immediately started to grow on the cloth.

Ichigo pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. Impatiently he waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello my dear son! How are you this fi-"

Ichigo cut him off, "Dad get the clinic ready."

"What happened?" His voice suddenly serious.

"I'll explain when we get there." He flipped his phone shut.

He nodded to Chad, Chad reached down and gentle picked the unconscious boy.

Ichigo looked at the rest of the group. "Did any of you drive to school?"

Hisagi nodded and tossed the keys to Ichigo. With that Ichigo and Chad ran back to the school parking lot.

* * *

*Kurosaki Clinic*

Shiro didn't need to open his eyes to know where he was. The clean sheets and smell of over used disinfectants told him he was in one of the last places he wanted to be, a hospital. At least he still had his own clothes on.

He felt bandages rapped tightly around his arm. His side was slightly painful but other wise fine.

He was angry with himself for getting into this mess. It was stupid of him to be sitting in the open like that where anyone could see him and sneak up on him. Now he was at a hospital.

Opening his eyes, he looked around. The walls were a very bright, clean white and the white tile almost sparkled with cleanliness. Large windows showed the sun sinking behind some buildings. Next to the bed was a small rolling table, on it was a tray with a steaming bowl of soup and a glass of milk.

Sitting up slowly, he pulled the table over to the bed. Looking into it he saw small chunks of meat, noodles, and vegetables in a thick broth. The smell made his mouth water and his stomach growl. He picked up the spoon and cautiously took a small bite.

It was the most amazing thing he had tasted in a long time.

He quickly ate the rest of the soup and drained the glass of milk. Dropping the spoon into the bowl Shiro laid back onto the bed with a sigh. Shit, his life wasn't going the way he wanted it to.

Before he could continue his feeling sorry for himself the door to his room open and a small girl with light colored short hair walked into his room. She was definitely to young to be working nurse, volunteer maybe. Seeing that Shiro was awake she gave him a shy smile.

"Do you need anything?" She asked.

Shiro shook his head. There was nothing he wanted here and as soon as she left the room he would leave the hospital whether they liked it or not.

She walked over to the rolling table and picked up the tray. She started to leave the room when slightly bothering question ran through his mind.

"Wait, I have a question." The girl stopped half way to the door. She gave him a curios look.

"How'd I get here?" As far a Shiro knew there was no one around the park at the time.

"My brother Ichigo and his friends brought you here." She answered and left the room, the door shutting behind her with a small click.

Shiro let his head fall back onto the pillow. This was great, just great. First he gets the shit beat out of him, then a car clips him, and on top of that some guy named after a goddamned fruit saves him. It was so fucking retarded it almost made him laugh.

He sat up and slid off the bed. Before he could start walking to the door it opened and man with dark hair and in a white doctor's coat walked into the room.

The doctor smiled. "Good to see you're up. I'm Isshin Kurosaki and I'm your doctor for now."

He looked at the clipboard he had brought in with him.

"I did an ex-ray on your chest and you have two cracked ribs, they should be healed in about six weeks. The cut on your arm took twenty-one stitches to close. The bruises are big but they aren't as bad as they look." Fun, twenty-one stitches and six weeks of pain.

When Shiro didn't say anything Isshin continued.

"Do you have any family or friends I could call?"

Shiro sat back onto the bed and snorted. Great, the questions had started.

"Mom doesn't care, Dad's dead, and I don't have any other relatives or friends. " Shiro gave him a defiant stare, daring him to say something about it.

The doctor frowned. "What's your name?"

"Shiro."

"Just Shiro?"

"Just Shiro." He hated his last name; it always reminded him that he was related to that bitch.

The doctor stood in thought for a moment. "You're not living on the streets are you?"

"And what if I am?" Shiro watched him warily, knowing this was the question that would get the cops called.

The doctor's frown deepened. "Well I can't knowingly let a homeless minor back onto the street."

Shit, he was going to call the cops. "So now you going to call the cops on me?"

"Do you want me to call them?" The question caught Shiro off guard. Wasn't it his job to call the cops for something like this whether Shiro wanted him to or not?

He frowned. "No but what does it matter to you if I don't want you to?"

"Well I won't call them if you don't want me to but I can't let you back onto the street either." Shiro sensed the doctor was going to give him a condition for not calling the cops.

"I won't call the police if you live with me and my family. If you did live with us you would have to finish high school."

This didn't make any sense. Why would Isshin be willing to take care of him if it was just easier to call the cops to get rid of him? They were also complete strangers and Shiro had no idea if was telling the truth or not.

"Why are you doing this? We don't know each other so I have no reason to trust you."

The doctor shrugged. "It's the right thing to do and I never said you had to trust me. It's your decision anyways."

"So I either live with you or you call the cops and I get sent to a foster home?"

He nodded.

"That's not much of a choice."

The doctor shrugged again. That made Shiro scowl.

Shiro thought about it. He defiantly didn't want to go to a foster home but he didn't want to live with this weird man either. Why was he thinking about this anyway? He could just sneak out of this place after the doctor left his room.

Suddenly the doctor spoke. "Well it looks like you need time to think about it and you should probably get some rest to."

With that he left the room the door making two small clicking noises as it shut behind him.

He came to tell him all that with out waiting for an answer? Whatever, at least he was gone.

Shiro waited about five minutes before walking over to the door. He turned the knob and pulled. It didn't open. He pulled harder. The door stayed shut. Then he remembered the clicking noises when the door shut.

That fucking doctor had locked him in the room! Angrily he kicked the door as hard as he could, hurting himself more then the door.

He walked back over to the bed and sat down, still fuming.

"_Shit, I hate hospitals."_

_

* * *

_

**_-Author's Note-_**

yay! Shiro's butt has been saved(again)!

now to a more improtant subject that has been driving me crazy since this story began. Should this story become a yaoi? i definatly could and it wouldn't ruin the story line i have planned, it would just be longer. i put a poll up on my profile to see what you guys think. if i did make it a yaoi then nothing would happen for a couple of chapters though.

thanks again for all your wonderful reviews! they make me smilez! :)


	5. Chapter 5

Isshin sighed as he walked down the hall from the room he had just locked.

He hoped he had made the right choice in doing this. From what little information Ichigo had told him and from what he saw on the ex- rays this was the best he could come up with. If he called the police the boy would probably have ended up in a foster home, and most likely a situation just as bad.

Sending him home wasn't an option either. From the conversation with Shiro, he apparently didn't have a place to live or if he did, what ever happened to him there would most likely be just as bad as letting spending the night out alone on the street.

The ex-rays told a dark story. The kid had several healed broken bones; some of them looked like they had healed years ago and some had healed much more recent.

Isshin shook his head. He still didn't understand how some one could hurt a child.

* * *

*Shiro's hospital room*

Shiro stared angrily at the ceiling of his room trying to figure out what to do. He knew he would be sleep in another ally that night in that fucking doctor hadn't locked him in his room. It's not like he hadn't sleep in the streets before and he could deal with it again until he found a place to stay.

He thought about the decision the doctor had given him about an hour ago. Either live with the doctor or get the cops called on him and he defiantly didn't want the cops called on him. It probably wouldn't be such a bad idea to live with him though Shiro didn't want to admit it. Plus there was Omeada's men to consider.

If he lived on the streets then be much easier for them to find him and try to bet money out of him that he didn't have.

Shiro scowled, not liking any of the decisions he could choose from.

After a few minutes of indecision he made his choice.

About ten minutes later the door to his room open and the doctor stepped in.

"Have you made your decision?" he asked.

Shiro nodded.

* * *

*Ichigo's room*

Ichigo laid on his bed, hands behind his head and eyes closed in thought. That was the second time in two days he had seen the same kid being beat up. What kind of trouble was that kid in? He was pretty sure this wasn't some you hit me I hit you kind of thing, the guys beating Shiro up had weapons and were serious about causing a large amount of pain.

Ichigo was also wondering about the look on his dad's face when he saw him looking at the ex-rays earlier. His eyes were serious, which wasn't that unusual when he worked but this look had been different, more intense.

He shook his head and opened his eyes. Thinking about it wasn't going to solve any questions. Maybe he could get some answers out of his dad later.

Sitting up, he decided to go down stairs and spend some time with his sisters. With Rukia staying over and the pile of homework the teachers had pushed on him, he really hadn't been able to spend much time with them lately.

He walked downstairs and into the living room where he saw his sisters sitting on the coach, Karin flipping through TV channels and Yuzu sorting recipe cards. Politely Yuzu scooted over for him to sit on his favorite spot at the end of the coach. Looking around, he saw his dad was nowhere in site.

"Where's dad?" He asked turning back to his sisters.

"Goatface went to check on his new patient again." Karin said, not taking her eyes away from the TV screen.

Settling down in his spot, he watched the channels fly by at a steady rate. Bored, Ichigo looked at one of the neat piles Yuzu had made when his father walked into the room, smiling like usual.

"How's Shiro?" Ichigo asked.

His father's smile widened. "You can ask him yourself because he's going to be living with us!"

Three pairs of shocked eyes stared at him as he waved his hands above his head enthusiastically. Karin was the first to recover.

"What do you mean living with us?" She asked.

"Well apparently he didn't have a place to stay so when I offered for him to stay with us he gladly excepted!" He said, still smiling and obviously proud of himself.

Ichigo didn't think Shiro would willingly accept help, knowing this from first hand experience. He still had the bruise to prove it.

"You should have told me earlier that he was going to stay with us! I haven't had a chance to change the sheets in the guest room yet." Yuzu pouted.

"You can go do that right now. I'll bring him down after your done." Isshin said brightly.

Yuzu smiled and hurried upstairs. Isshin took her spot on the coach and purposely made sure he squished Ichigo against the armrest.

"Jeeze you fat!" Ichigo said pushing his father away from him.

"How dare you call my manly muscles fat!" His father said before pushing him back.

A shoving match ensued and continued on the coach for the next few minutes, insults flying between the two until Yuzu came back down the stairs.

"The guestroom is ready." She announced.

Isshin removed the socked foot that pressed into the side of his face before jumping up and yelling something about introducing them to their newly adopted brother then running off towards the clinic.

Ichigo shook his head; it was just like his father to do something like "adopting" some one he barely knew. He just hoped his father had a knew what hw was doing.

A minute or two later his father dragged the pissed off looking albino into the living room. Ichigo noticed that there was a large bloodstain on the side of his pants from where his arm had bled on it.

"Oh Masaki if only you could see our new adopted son!" said in loud, sad voice and proceeded to try and hug the large poster of Ichigo's mother that hung on the wall.

"How many times have I told you to take that ridiculous poster down!" Karin said angrily. She got off the coach and tried to pry him off the wall.

Ichigo scowled, how he was related to this nut job he wasn't sure. He looked up to see Shiro staring intensely at him. Ichigo stared back, not sure what the problem was. The staring match continued, making Ichigo slightly uncomfortable but he refused to back down. What the hell was his problem?

"Karin! Be nice to dad!" Yuzu said commandingly, all of them ignoring the intense staring match going on behind them.

Turning around she saw Shiro and noticed how dirty his clothes were. She frowned and turned to Ichigo.

"Ichigo could you go upstairs and get some of your clean clothes for Shiro please?"

She asked.

"What? Why my clothes?!" Looking at Yuzu, glad to have a reason to look away.

"Because what he's wearing is filthy and I don't think dad's clothes will fit." She said.

Ichigo huffed in agitation. "Fine."

He stood up and walked upstairs to his room. He swore he could fell Shiro staring a hole in his back when he left.

Safely in his room he looked into his closet and grabbed a shirt and a pair of jeans. After thinking about it more he grabbed a pair of pajama pants and another shirt. Going back down stairs he heard Yuzu telling Shiro to go take a bath because she didn't want her nice clean sheets to get filthy.

Ichigo handed the clean clothes to Shiro who once again locked his eyes onto Ichigo before walking past him and up the stairs.

Wondering again what the hell his problem was, Ichigo walked over to the coach to sit next to his calmed down father who was now absorbed in some TV show.

* * *

*Upstairs*

The world, no the universe hated him, Shiro was very sure of that. It was bad enough to be saved by someone named after a strawberry but to be saved twice by said person then having to live with him..… it had to be some sick cosmic joke.

When the doctor had dragged him enthusiastically into his house, which turned out to be connected to the clinic, the first thing he had seen when he walked into the living room was that damned bright orange hair. He wasn't sure if he should've laughed or punched him again, so he had settled for an angry staring match.

He sighed and walked down the small hallway in search of the bathroom. A hot shower defiantly sounded good at the moment. His body was starting to hurt from moving around so much.

Finding the bathroom, he stepped inside and locked the door. He didn't need the strange people down stairs bursting in on him. He walked over to the shower and turned up the heat so the water would be nice and hot.

Standing back, he carefully peeled his shirt off and scowled at what he saw. Purplish-black bruises covered most of his chest, especially on the side with his cracked ribs.

He undid his pants, slowly bending over to take the pants and the underlying boxers off so he wouldn't upset his ribs, which failed and made him grimace in pain. Once his pants and boxers were off, he took off his only remaining clothes (socks and shoes) before stepping into the almost scalding water.

He let himself relax and his mind wander as the water pounded his back. Was he really going through with live with these people? It didn't look like he had another choice. They seemed nice, slightly crazy but nice. But one thing Shiro learned in his life is that no one did any thing for free.

So why did the doctor let him stay with his family? What could he possibly want from Shiro? The unanswerable questions frustrated him.

Angrily Shiro grabbed a random bottle of shampoo and rubbed a glob of it into his hair. Looking at the bottle he realized it was strawberry scented.

"_That's real nice, keep screwing me over universe."_ He thought bitterly.

Shiro turned off the shower and stepped out. Looking around he found a basket with folded towels. Picking one up, he dried himself off and wrapped it around his waste.

The wet bandages on his arm were starting to bother him so he opened the medicine cabinet and found a role of gauze. Carefully he pealed the soaked bandages off, lightly pressed his arm onto the towel, and rewrapped his stitched cut with fresh bandages.

Now for clothes, looking at his options he decided on the more comfortable pajama pants and one of the shirts. They were both slightly to big for him but they would do for now.

He gathered up both the clean and dirty clothes and left the towel, not knowing what to do with it. He opened the door and stepped into the hallway. What did he do now? Was there a room for him or was he suppose to sleep on the coach? Looking around he realized just how _clean_ everything was, it made him feel out of place.

A girl with dark hair walked up the stairs and passed him on her way into the bathroom.

"Your room is at the end of the hallway on the left." She said pointing down the hallway before shutting the door.

Well, maybe some of the people in this house weren't crazy, that was a small plus.

Shiro walked down the hall and into his appointed room. The room was clean with wooden floors, a small bed with clean looking sheets and blankets, and a small nightstand next to it. A sliding door on the wall revealed a closet in which Shiro dumped his clothes into, he would clean it up later.

He sat on the bed, which was pretty soft. Lying down he realized just how tired he was.

"_Nothing like being beaten and threatened to tire you out."_ Shiro thought.

He pulled the covers over himself and let his tired brain fall into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

_**-AUHTOR'SNOTE-**_

o.O intense staring....

okay i think i know if it will be a yaoi or not ... but unfortunately you people will have to wait to find out. what would be the fun of telling you now? (smiles winningly)

Shiro is one of my favorite bleach charaters and writing this is only making me love him more! i'm glad you guys think i'm keeping him in charater.

as usual reviews and favs are loved and charished :)


	6. Chapter 6

A loud bang fallowed by shouting in the next room woke Shiro out of his deep sleep.

"_What the hell?"_ He thought drowsily before rolling out of bed and looked into the hallway.

Somewhat awake now he listened to the shouting.

"Ouch! Ichigo your so mean to your father!" One of the voices whined.

"I wouldn't be so mean if you didn't wake me up like that!" A second voice yelled.

There was a loud thump before the carrot-top stormed out of his room and down the stairs. The door across from Shiro's room opened and the two girls walked out, both looking sleepy. The dark haired one yawned and the blond one rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before continuing down stairs.

"What the hell was that about?" Shiro asked the girl.

"My dad likes sneak attack my brother to wake him up and like an idiot he doesn't lock his door." She said.

"They don't do that every morning do they?" Asked Shiro.

"Everyday like clock work." She said, her tone slightly annoyed.

Shiro scowled, he didn't like the prospect of waking up to that racket every morning. The doctor came out of the room Ichigo had and ran down the stairs yelling about payback.

"Yuzu will finish breakfast in a few minutes if you want any." She said, and then she turned and walked down the stairs to join her family.

Shiro thought about going back to sleep when his stomach rumbled. Oh well, some food couldn't hurt. He probably couldn't get back to sleep if he wanted to anyway.

Walking down stairs and stood in the kitchen doorway, he saw that the doctor and his family where seated around the table minus the blond girl who was standing in front of the stove, the smell of eggs wafted from the stove top.

"Did you guys finish your homework?" She asked, she didn't look up from the food she was preparing.

The two students at the table mumble yes. The blond girl picked up a pile of plates and started setting the table. She looked up and saw Shiro in the doorway and smiled.

"Come and eat Shiro! Then you can get ready for school." She turned back to the stove, grabbed the frying pan, and turned around to start serving it.

He took a chair, careful to sit away from the other occupants of the table.

Wait a minute, did she say get ready for school? He wasn't going to school, hell no, they could go all they like but he wasn't. Then he remembered the condition for living with them that the doctor had given him.

Finish high school? That was two years from now. _Shit._ He groaned inwardly but immediately brightened up when he realized he didn't have a uniform. The staff wouldn't let him go to class with out a uniform. With the problem solved at the moment, he ate the food in front of him.

He finished his plate and was about to get up when Ichigo started to talk to him.

"So I'm guessing your going to have to barrow a uniform too?" His chocolate eyes looked at Shiro.

Fuck, Shiro really wanted to punch again but he nodded anyway.

Ichigo got up and Shiro fallowed him reluctantly to the carrot-top's room. Once there Ichigo opened his closet, taking two uniforms out and tossing one at Shiro. Shiro scowled and left to go to his room.

Once in his room he closed the door and his scowl deepened as he looked at the hated uniform. He quickly changed into it and realized it was kind of big on him. The shirt hung loosely on him and the gray slacks felt uncomfortable big. He let the tie be loose; he didn't like it when it was tight.

He stepped out of the room and went down the stairs. Ichigo and the girls were getting their bags ready for school. The blond girl walked up to him and handed him a paper bag. Looking inside he saw a cold meat sandwich, chips, and a juice box.

"Ready to go my sweet, little girls?" Isshin asked.

The girls nodded and fallowed their father out the door.

"You ready to go?" Ichigo asked Shiro.

Shiro snorted, "No, but let's go."

The two left the house and headed for the school. They walked for a few blocks, Shiro staying several feet behind Ichigo and both stayed silent. The closer they got to the school the more Shiro grimaced. Ichigo looked over his shoulder at him.

"Your face will freeze like that if your not careful." Ichigo said.

"Fuck off." He said angrily.

Shiro scowled when he saw the carrot-top smirk before continuing towards the dread destination. Asshole.

Walking a few more blocks their destination came into view, groups of people stood wandering about in front. The closer they got the louder the voice of the students got.

Ichigo turned in another direction and walked up to group where a red headed guys with tattoos, a large and muscular Mexican, a dark haired midget, and a tall and skinny nerd stood talking amongst themselves before turning to talk to the newly arrived Ichigo.

Having no desire to talk to anyone let alone friends of Ichigo, Shiro continued to walk until he entered the building. Inside there was more students standing around, some of them began to stare at Shiro and whisper to each other.

Now he remembered. That's the reason he hated this place. It was because of the goddamned staring. He didn't mind be called a freak or the eruption of whispers that would fallow him down the halls; it was the staring that got to him.

He walked further until he found the bathroom; entering it he found it was mercifully empty. He could just wait in here until the bell rang.

He heard the door squeak open behind him. Turning around he saw four smug looking seniors.

"Looks like we have a new punching bag guys." The one in front said. The three behind him laughed.

"What do you ass wipes want?" Shiro asked, he was already pissed off enough and he didn't need these dicks to make him angrier.

"Huh, another smart ass." He stepped forward and grabbed Shiro by the front of the shirt.

"Guess we'll have to teach you your place."

Shiro grinned. "I hope you're as tough as you talk."

He was going to knock the smugness out these assholes and get some much need anger management therapy.

The door squeaked open again and a new group of people walked in. Shiro recognized the red head and the Mexican but the two others he didn't. One was bald and the other had what looked like feathers stuck to his face.

"You didn't tell us that you were going to have some fun Mikami." The bald one smirked.

"We were just leaving. Let's go guys." Mikami said grudgingly before releasing Shiro's shirt. He and his small group filed out of the bathroom.

"You okay?" The red head asked.

"Peachy." Shiro said, scowling.

The one with feathers stuck to his face chuckled. "Kurosaki said you were easy to piss off."

Ichigo, of course. That little orange haired asshole probably asked his friends to look after him.

"Let me guess, he sent you here to bodyguard me?" Shiro asked.

"The term he used was 'check up on'." The red head answered.

Shiro's scowl deepened. He was going to give Ichigo a piece of his mind in the form of a foot up his ass.

"We should get going, the bells about to ring." The small group waited for Shiro to leave before going to their classes.

Shiro walked into his class and walked towards the back to find a seat. He took the last seat of the row closest to the windows. Looking at the board he saw the date; Friday, June 13. At least he didn't have to go to school tomorrow.

He realized most of the class was look at him. Some of them looked away shamefully when they realized he was looking back but most of them continued to gawk.

He was about to ask what the hell they were all staring at when the teacher walked in. The students scrambled to there seats. The teacher sat at here desk at the front of the room.

"Is everyone ready to take attendance?" She asked with little emotion as she pulled up the attendance sheet on the computer. A mumbled chorus of yes answered her.

"Orihime Inoue."

"Here."

"Shuusei Hisagi."

"Here."

"Senna Rikichi."

The called upon person didn't answer. The teacher looked up and at the spot where that person would've been sitting.

"I think she sick today ma'am." A student near the front stated.

"Okay." The teacher was about to look back the computer screen when she spotted Shiro.

"Well isn't that nice, Mr. Jirotoshi has finally decided to join us." She said.

Shiro scowled and glared at the teacher for using his last name. The entire class was looking at him now. What were they expecting him to do, dance?

The teacher started to call out names again and the students turned to face the front again.

Looking to the window, Shiro calmed down a little. The teacher started droning on about how important it was to study for an up coming test, blah, blah, blah.

School passed by slowly and lunch was uneventful. Some of Ichigo's friends had tried to introduce themselves to him but were ignored.

Finally the end of the day bell rang and Shiro left the classroom. Walking down the hallway, people continued to stare and were starting to make Shiro's bad mood return.

Outside more people stood around talking. Ignoring them all, he walked down the streets to the Kurosaki household. Isshin jumped out of nowhere, almost knocking Shiro over.

"Hello dear Shiro! How was your day!" he asked jubilantly.

"Shitty." He answered before going up the stair into his room.

Once there he shut the door and laid on the bed, thinking about the next day. First priority was to get clothes of his own. He was tired of barrowing clothes from that carrot-top asshole. But getting clothes required him to either go back to the apartment or buy them.

Problem was he had no money and barrowing money was a bad idea. He really didn't want to go back to the apartment either but it looked like that was his only option.

He grimaced at the thought of seeing that bitch again. If he was lucky she wouldn't be there.

He snorted at the thought of him being lucky. The only luck he got was bad luck, the last nine years of his life were proof of that.

* * *

*Downtown Karakura*

Omeada waved his hand signaling for some of his men to drag the bleeding and unconscious men in front of him out of his site. They left small puttles of blood for their broken noses on the concrete floor.

The idiots had failed to get his money for second time and had to be punished. They wouldn't have been punished as badly if they hadn't tried to cover it up and lie to him. He hated being lied to and any one how did it would be punish severely.

He had also needed to think up a new plan for getting his money. Sending people to threaten the freak hadn't worked. Apparently he was starting his own gang to challenge Omeada for ownership of his territory. Just thinking about it made him angry.

Clapping his hands, two men appeared before him.

"Yes sir Omeada?" One of them asked.

"Some one owes me money and your going to get him for me."

He started explaining his plan.

* * *

**_-AUTHOR'SNOTE-_**

just a short little chapter i kind of rushed. -_-

poor Shiro doesn't like school and i feel bad for enjoying his pain.

the reason i rushed is because there's one chapter i want to write really really badly but it's still a few chapters away so i'm getting impatient. the next chapter i will work a lot harder on because it's improtant.


	7. Chapter 7

Shiro woke up with a groan; his muscles had gone stiff on him when he slept.

Sitting up he realized that there was no yelling or loud sounds going on in the next room, which made him guess no one was up yet.

He yawned and walked into the hallway. In the hallway he saw Isshin with his back pressed up to wall, he was trying to slide up sneakily to the closed door of Ichigo's room. He saw Shiro watching him so he put his finger to his lips, signaling for Shiro to be quiet.

Shiro rolled his eyes and went back into his room. He wanted to change and leave early so he could get in and out of the apartment so he would never have to go back there again.

A loud thump and cries of pain and yelling started in the next room. Thus the Kurosaki day begins.

Once he was fully dressed, which took a while do to his ribs. He left the room and headed down the stairs. Not feeling like he wanted to eat, he passed the kitchen and reached out his hand to open the door.

"And where would you be going this fine day, dear Shiro?" Isshin asked poking his head out the kitchen.

"Out. Why?" Shiro answered. He already regretted asking this.

"Well I can't let you do any heavy lifting or strenuous activities or else your wounds will open again." Great, he was going into doctor mode.

"Well I'm not so don't have a fit." He twisted the doorknob.

"Just in case I'm going to send Ichigo with you."

"_Fucking shit."_ Having to go to the apartment wasn't going to be fun in the first place and having Ichigo along would make it a nightmare.

"Where are you sending me?" The carrot-top asked as he came down the stairs.

Ichigo was dressed a loose pair of jeans and a t-shirt with the word _shattered_ written in bold letters across the front.

"I'm sending you with Shiro so he doesn't do anything unnecessary."

"But I was going to hang out with Chad and Renji today." His tone became agitated.

Isshin grinned. "Even better! Shiro can hang out with you!"

Ichigo made a deep scowl and Shiro tried to hold back a gagging noise. Isshin seemed oblivious to their dislike of each other and continued.

"Hope you two boys have fun!" He went and grabbed Ichigo by the arm before he could object and shoved him out the door with Shiro. The door slammed shut behind them.

Shiro started to walk to the apartment hoping to leave Ichigo behind. Unfortunately he heard Ichigo's steps fallowing him. Annoyed he turned around.

"Why the hell are you fallowing me?" Shiro asked, letting his annoyance show.

"Because I don't leave people who are hurt."

Shiro snorted at this. "I don't need a goddamned babysitter. I can take care of myself."

"Whatever, I'm still coming with you." The stubborn set of his jaw told Shiro that he had made up his mind and wasn't going to change it.

Shiro scowled and started walking again with Ichigo fallowing. He wondered if he should actually go to the apartment now or not. They walked for several blocks in silence before Ichigo broke it.

"So where are we going?"

"My old apartment to get my stuff." There was no use avoiding it since Isshin would probably send Ichigo with him every time he went out anyway.

The walked the rest of the way, both staying quiet. Finally the apartment complex came into view. His stomach curled slightly at the familiar sight.

Walking up the stairs to the door of the apartment, he opened it and expected the bitch to go into rant about him ruining her date and how horrible he was as a son.

Silence.

Looking around the living room he realized that she wasn't there. She was probably out for cigarettes or something. He was surprised at how relieved he was. Did he really want to avoid her that much?

Walking through the mess to his room, he dug through a pile until he found a dark blue duffle bag. He started to stuff clothes into his bag when he realized Ichigo was standing in the doorway.

Shiro saw him look around the room curiously.

Stepping into the room he asked, "So this is where you lived?"

"Yep." Shiro returned to what he was doing.

"Do you need any help?" Ichigo asked.

"No." He grabbed another hand full of clothes and shoved them in the bag.

Walking further into the room, Ichigo still looked around curiously. Shiro heard him start digging through one of the nightstand drawers. Slightly annoyed, Shiro was about to tell him to stay out of his stuff when he saw that Ichigo was looking at something.

He realized that Ichigo was looking at a small beat up photo.

"Who's this?" He turned the face of the picture towards Shiro.

"My father." Shiro reached up and angrily snatched the picture away from him before stuffing it into his pocket. He went over and looked in the closet to see if there was any thing worth keeping inside.

"So I'm guessing he's dead right?"

Shiro continued to dig threw the closet, ignoring Ichigo. Talking about his father wasn't on his "something to talk about" list.

A rather awkward silence filled the small room for a few moments before Ichigo continued.

"I…I know what it's like to lose a parent."

Shiro stopped digging through the closet. He looked over at Ichigo who was rubbing the side of his head, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"_What the fuck?"_ Was he trying to get Shiro to discuss his _feelings_? Using some kind of "I went through it too so I know how it feels" bullshit. Damn this is annoying.

"Look, a king doesn't know how a horse lives so drop it." He zipped the bag up and left the room.

* * *

*Shiro's apartment room*

Ichigo watched Shiro leave the room.

He wasn't sure why he had tried to get Shiro to talk about his father. Maybe try to understand him more? And what did Shiro mean by that king and horse comment?

The door slammed, making him lose his train of thought. Realizing that Shiro had left him alone in some else's apartment, he left the room before some one caught him there.

Stepping into the doorway of the living room he realized Shiro was still there and he wasn't alone.

A woman stood face Shiro with a smug grin on her face; Shiro had his back facing Ichigo.

"So finally came crawling back, eh?" she asked in a voice sounded raspy.

"I would never come crawling back to you." Shiro's voice was full of cold anger.

The woman stopped smiling. She walked up to him and in one swift movement backhanded him across the face.

"That's no way to talk to your mother." She said angrily.

"You're not my mother." He said it so quietly Ichigo almost didn't catch it. Shiro walked over to the door and threw it open and walked out.

Ichigo quickly fallowed Shiro out the door before the woman could say anything. He hurried down the stairs and onto the street. Looking around he saw that Shiro was already a block ahead of him.

Had she abuse Shiro? Ichigo decided to get the answers from Shiro, but would he admit it if she had?

"Shiro wait!" Shiro continued walking.

Ichigo ran to catch up with him.

"Shiro stop!" Ichigo grabbed his shoulder to spin him around. Shiro knocked his hand away and continued to walk.

"Did she abuse you?"

Shiro stopped and turned around, anger glowing in his eyes.

"Ya really want to know?! Yes, after Dad died she lost it! She would get pissed and take it out on me even if I had nothin to do with it! Now ya know, happy?!" Without waiting for an answer he turned and continued down the street.

Ichigo watched him get further and further away until he disappeared from his field of vision. Finally he started back to his home.

Ichigo walked the rest of the way home and opened the door. His family looked at him with worried eyes.

"Ichi-nii what happened?" Yuzu asked in a small worried voice.

Ichigo shook his head. He wasn't going to explain this to his little sisters, he'd explain to his Dad later. he made a small nod to the kitchen that only his father saw.

Isshin nodded in understanding; to distract the girls he told them to go check their homework in the living room.

Ichigo left and went into the kitchen. His father joined him moments later.

"What happened?" His usual hyperness replaced by worry.

Ichigo explain where they had gone and what had happened there.

Isshin sighed and shook his head. "I had a suspicion but I was hoping it wouldn't be true."

Ichigo was surprised his dad had guessed. "How long have you thought that?"

"Since I looked at his ex-rays."

So he had known for that long. That explained why he was letting Shiro stay with them.

He noticed the time on the digital clock of the microwave, 11:43. So much drama and it wasn't even noon yet.

Ichigo suddenly felt very tired, leaving the kitchen he went it the living room where his sisters were pretending to do their homework. He could tell by their expression that their thoughts were elsewhere.

Sitting down, he watched the day pass by slowly.

Shiro stayed upstairs the entire day.

* * *

**_-AUTHOR'SNOTE-_**

Busy busy week for me but i got it done! i hope it was worth the wait! :)


	8. Chapter 8

Shiro yanked the door open to the Kurosaki home and walked inside before slamming the door shut behind him.

"Why boys, you're back early!" Isshin said as he jumped out of the kitchen into the hallway, his face having a huge grin on it as usual.

Seeing the look on Shiro's anger face made him stop smiling. He stepped aside as Shiro walked past him up the stairs it to his room.

Shiro opened the door to his room and slammed it shut behind him. He threw the duffle bag in the corner before lying down on the bed. He stared angrily at the ceiling like it was the source of his problems.

He had only be out side for what, an hour? Already the world was screwing with him. First that orange haired idiot had tried to talk to him about a subject he never wanted talk about, ever. Then the bitch had showed, which completed his nightmare. All in the span of an hour, lucky him.

He closed his and let out an angry sigh, trying to clam down. There was no use getting worked up about something he couldn't change. At least the bitch was out of his life.

The only problem was Ichigo. Of course the idiot wouldn't leave what happened alone and would want to talk about it. And tomorrow was Sunday.

"_Shit."_

*The Next Day*

There was a light knock on his door before a small, timid voice asked, "Uhh, Shiro? Do you want some breakfast? It's ready if you want some."

He heard the person, who he guessed was the small blond Yuzan or Yuzu or what ever her name was, retreat from his door.

He turned over with a groan, not even remembering falling asleep. He wondered how long he could avoid going done stairs without starving to death.

Wait a minute, what the hell was he doing? Hiding in his room like some goddamned emo sissy because he didn't want to talk about his feelings. If he didn't want to talk about his feelings, he wouldn't and he would tell anyone that didn't like it to fuck off.

Sitting up he realized he was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, though a bit more wrinkled. Deciding that the clothes were still clean enough to ware, Shiro walked over to the door and opened it.

The smell of bacon hit his nose, making his stomach growl loudly.

Shiro walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. The three Kurosaki children sat around the table, the doctor was nowhere to be seen. The three at the table looked up from their almost finished breakfast as he stepped into the kitchen.

"Hi Shiro! I'll get you a plate." The small blond jumped up from her seat and started to make him a plate.

Shiro sat down next to the dark haired girl, Karin? Out of the four people in the house, he liked her the best since she was the quietest.

The blond set a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast in front of him along with a glass of juice. The blond then returned to her seat and started to blabber on about some dream she had that night, everyone else continued to eat what was left of their food. Finally, Shiro was the only one eating.

The blond started to pick up the plates when Ichigo reached out his hand to stop her. "Don't worry Yuzu, I'll take care of it."

"Okay." She said letting go of the plate. "Karin, can you help pick up the laundry so I can wash it?"

Karin let out a sigh. "Sure."

Ichigo picked up the plates and set them in the sink as the girls left the room, leaving Shiro and Ichigo alone. An uncomfortable silence filled the room for a few moments.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. It was none of my business. "

Shiro looked up to see Ichigo standing at the sink with his back to him. Shiro started to eat again, deciding that would be better not to say anything. Ichigo washed the dishes while Shiro finished eating.

After finishing their activities, they left the kitchen to work on their neglected homework (separately) for tomorrow. Well, Ichigo worked on it, Shiro just doodled for a while before randomly scribbling answers.

The rest of the night past by quietly, (excluding anything Isshin did).

*The next morning*

Sunshine coming through the window slowly pulled Ichigo out of sleep. Scowling, he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. At least goat chin hadn't busted in and-

Wait, why hadn't dad woken him up? He looked at the clock on his desk and jumped out of bed when he saw the time. Shit, he was going to be late for school if he didn't get moving.

He stripped out of his pajamas and pulled on his school uniform. He stepped into the hall way, he checked his sisters' room to make sure they were up and they were. Looking in Shiro's room he saw a figure still in the bed covered by a blanket, his pointy white hair sticking out from underneath the blanket.

"Shiro get up, we're going to be late."

Shiro didn't move.

Scowling in annoyance, Ichigo picked a wrinkled shirt off the floor before throwing it at the sleeping teen. The shirt land accurately on top of Shiro's head. Shiro grunted before grabbing the shirt and throwing it back on the floor.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and looked at his watch only to realize he hadn't put it on yet.

He walked back into his room and picked up his digital watch off his desk. He looked at the time as he strapped it to his wrist. Damn, he only had fifteen minutes to get to school. Why hadn't his dad woken him up?!

Then he saw the date on his watch and stopped.

No wonder dad hadn't come bursting in, that day was tomorrow.

*Shiro's room*

Shiro got out of bed and changed into his uniform, still half asleep. Why the hell did school have to be so early in the morning?

He stepped out his room and yawned before going down the stairs. When he got to the bottom he saw Ichigo pulling his shoes on.

"Good morning Shiro." Ichigo said with a smile, his usual scowl almost nonexistent.

What the hell? Why was he in such a good mood? Shiro gave him a wary look before putting his own shoes on. Grabbing his bag he stood up.

"Come on were going to be late!" Ichigo went out the door.

Shiro fallowed him out the door. What the hell was with carrot- top? Did some one put uppers in his breakfast or something?

They walked quickly down the streets to the school to avoid being late. Once there, two smiling blond girls with extremely large breasts came bouncing over to Ichigo, a dark haired midget girl fallowed behind them. Shiro stood a little away from the group.

"Hello Kurosaki-kun!" one of the blonds with flower clips in her hair said brightly.

Ichigo smiled. "Hey Orihime!"

The girl stopped smiling and gave him a worried look. Before anything could be said, a loud voice yelled at Ichigo.

"Yo strawberry! Get your butt over here!" A red headed guy waved for Ichigo to come over to him and the group of guys around him.

"Come on guys." Ichigo said before walking over to the red head, the second blond was about to fallow when she noticed that her two companions weren't coming too.

"What's wrong Orihime?" The one blond asked the other.

Shiro saw Orihime's worried looked deepen. "Kurosaki-kun is acting really strange."

The second blond looked confused. "He seems happy to me."

The group looked over to see Ichigo grinning at something someone had said.

"What day is it tomorrow?" The little dark haired girl said suddenly.

"June seventeenth, why?" The two blonds looked confused before understanding dawned on their faces. The small group made concerned face at each other before joining their friends, leaving a very confused Shiro behind.

What the hell was so important about tomorrow? Why was the strawberry acting so weird? What had upset those girls so much?

Shiro shook his head to clear away the questions. He was almost starting to care. Shit, living with that family was making him soft.

Before he could think more about the school bell rang and students started pushing through the door, dragging Shiro with them. Shiro pushed his way into his classroom and sat down in his seat.

A few minutes later the teacher came in and started talking about their agenda for that day. Shiro immediately tune her out and took out a black marker. At first he doodled on his notebook before coloring his finger nails black. Finally the bell rang for lunch.

He walked into the lunchroom and sat at an empty table in the back. Before he could start eating, Ichigo along with the girl Orihime and a large Mexican looking kid sat down at the table. Shiro glared at them.

"You looked lonely Shiro-san so we joined you!" The girl said happily, oblivious to Shiro's glare.

Before Shiro could tell them to leave, four more of them showed up and sat at the table. Two dark haired girls, one with spiky hair and the other one from earlier, the red head and a dark haired geeky looking boy with glasses.

"I'm so sick of having to work at my uncle's place!" The red-head complained loudly.

"Lazy." The dark haired midget said.

A loud pop came from across the table. Look over at the sound, Shiro saw that the Orihime had some how exploded her juice box.

"Oh no! My juice!" she wailed.

Ichigo stood up with a sigh. "I'll get you some napkins and new juice box."

Orihime blushed, "Th-thank you Kurosaki-kun."

He smiled. "No problem."

As he walked away, his friends made concerned looks at each other.

"Poor Ichigo." Orihime said sadly.

"What's wrong with him?" The red asked.

"Tomorrow's June seventeenth." The girl with dark spiky hair said.

"Already? Damn, I wasn't paying attention to the dates." The red head said.

During this small conversation, Shiro had no idea what they were talking about and it made him feel like an idiot, which he didn't enjoy at all. Deciding he wanted to know what the hell was going on, he turned to the spiky haired girl sitting next to him.

"What hell is with June seventeenth?"

She looked at him in surprise. "You don't know? It's the day Ichigo's mother died."

_**-AUTHOR'SNOTE-**_

I know I'm late with this update.

My computer is being very slow and I'm getting ready to beat it in with the conveniently placed golf club on the floor next to it. Though I guess it's just mad at me for downloading limewire and it's just trying to get me back. -_-"


	9. Chapter 9

So tomorrow was the day his mother died? That explained why everyone was so worried about him but not why he was acting so goddamned happy.

"Why's he acting so happy then?" Shiro asked the girl.

She sighed, "He doesn't want us to worry. Every year he acts like this for a day and disappears the next. Then he comes back like nothing ever happened."

Ichigo returned to the table and set the napkins and new juice box in front of Orihime. The orange haired girl then started to clean up the mess from the exploded juice box. The group around the table joked around the rest of the lunch period, Ichigo included.

Shiro wasn't bothered much by what he had just been told, though he did admit to himself that he did feel a small tiny, miniscule shred of pity for the orange haired boy. Oh well, as long as he didn't have to deal with emotionally depressed people for any amount of time he was fine.

The rest of the school day passed by slowly as usual before it finally ended. Shiro walked back with Ichigo, who at one point actually started to hum.

Shiro fallowed Ichigo into the house where Isshin immediately attacked Ichigo.

"HELLOOO ICHIGOOO!!!" The man yelled as he attempted to hug tackle his son.

Ichigo easily dodged and Isshin went flying past him. Unfortunately Shiro was behind Ichigo and received the flying tackle instead, which knocked him to the ground. Shiro gritted his teeth as pain shot through his side from his still healing ribs.

"Oh no! I'm sorry Shiro! I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" The old man begged as he began to sob loudly.

"Nice one dad." Ichigo said with a chuckle, his father continued to apologize profusely.

"I'm fine. Just shut up already, jeeze." Shiro said in annoyance, the pain from his ribs starting to fade.

Yuzu poked her head out the kitchen. "Come on you guys, dinners ready."

Diner pasted by quietly except for the usual antics by Isshin, which would cause either Ichigo or Karin to hit him out of annoyance. Shiro was about to leave the kitchen when Isshin placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I think we could take those stitches out of your arm now."

Shiro held out his arm. Isshin pulled a pair of nail clippers out of his pocket and quickly clipped the stitches. He pulled the small, plastic strips out of Shiro's arm.

"Dad, you better not be getting stuff all over my floors." Yuzu said, shaking her finger threateningly.

"Why no Yuzu. Daddy would never dirty your clean floors." The adult said in a innocent, child like voice.

Shiro saw Karin roll her eyes and Ichigo give a small, amused smile as Yuzu gave a warning look at her father. They looked like a happy family together.

Shiro suddenly felt very out of place as he left the kitchen.

* * *

*The next day*

~June 17th ~

A knock on Shiro's door woke him up from his light sleep. He sat up and walked over to the door and opened it. He frowned as he looked around and didn't see any one, whoever knocked on his door was gone.

Stepping back into the room he realized it was Tuesday, which meant he had school. With a small growl of resentment, he pulled on his uniform. Leaving the room, he went past the closed door of Ichigo's room and down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs he heard crying coming from the kitchen, curious, Shiro looked in the kitchen to see Yuzu with her head in her arms, sobbing at the table. Karin sat next to her, one of her hands placed comfortingly on Yuzu's shoulder.

"Come on Yuzu, you can't cry like this every year." Karin said to her twin.

"I-I k-know but I m-miss her so m-much!" Yuzu said before starting to sob even harder.

Karin gave a sad sigh and gave her sister's shoulder a small squeeze.

Shiro passed by the kitchen as quietly as possible, suddenly glad that he had school. Pulling on his shoes, he didn't hear Isshin come up behind him.

"You don't have to go to school today if you don't want to."

Shiro nearly jumped in surprise. He looked up to see Isshin smiling at him, though his usual enthusiasm wasn't there.

"Why?" Wasn't one of his conditions for staying there to finish school?

"None of the others are going to school today, so I won't make you go either." Isshin explained.

"Nah, I'll go today." On any other day Shiro would have taken the day off without hesitation but he didn't think he could deal with listening to Yuzu cry all day.

Shiro opened the door and stepped outside. He felt something cold and wet land on his head. Looking up he saw a dark, gray sky and felt another rain drop hit the side of his face. Something in his brain told him it would be a long day.

He walked to the school and arrived there mostly dry. The rain hadn't really started to fall yet.

He walked into the classroom and took his seat. He looked out the window and watched the speed of the rain pick up slightly, the sound of the other students talking filled the background until the teacher came in a few minutes later. The teacher began a lecture that Shiro promptly ignored.

By the time the lunch bell rang the rain outside was coming down much faster then it had that morning.

Ichigo's friends sat with him again, but they were more subdued then he ever seen them. He had felt his mood get worse through out the day. Damn, all this depression was getting to him.

The bell rang again, signal for everyone to class.

Shiro went back to class expecting note taking or things of that nature but he got a pop quiz instead. After finishing the useless quiz, the day past by as annoyingly slow as it had that morning.

He watched the rain, which was falling at a steady pace as it struck the window with small tapping noises. Finally he turned to watch the clock, as it was one minute before the bell would ring. With a click the minute hand moved causing the bell to ring and all the students to gain their freedom.

He ran back to the house so hopefully he wouldn't be soaked.

That wasn't the case. When he reached the house he was sopping wet, his hair was flattened against his head and his is clothes stuck to him uncomfortably.

He walked inside the house, past the living room, and was about to go upstairs to change when he heard someone start talking to him.

"Oh Shiro, I'm sorry. I should have gotten a umbrella for you this morning."

He turned around to see Yuzu standing behind him. She had stopped crying but her eyes were red and puffy.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." He said before continuing upstairs. He still wasn't use to people caring about him and it made him feel strange.

He walked into his room and grabbed some clothes before going to the bathroom. He turned the shower and pulled off his shirt as he waited for the water to warm up.

He looked to most of the bruises on his chest were a greenish-yellow color. His ribs were mostly healed but still hurt if he twisted too much. He looked at the fresh white scar on his arm where Isshin had taken the stitches out of his arm. A constant reminder that he would have to watch his back from now on.

He removed the rest of his clothes and stepped into the hot stream of shower water. The hot water felt nice on his rain-cooled skin. He stood there for a moment, letting the water run over him before grabbing some soap and cleaning himself off.

After rising, he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. He quickly toweled off and was getting dressed when he felt his stomach grumble hungrily. He wondered what they were going to eat as he pulled on his shirt.

He stepped out of the bathroom and went down the stairs. The unmistakable smell of Chinese take out coming from the kitchen.

Walking into the kitchen he saw Karin, Yuzu, and Isshin almost done with their boxes of take out, leaving two boxes on the table. Shiro picked one of the boxes up along with a pair of chopsticks.

"Think he's going to eat that?" Shiro asked, nodding to the last remaining box that was presumable Ichigo's.

"I'll take it up to onii-chan and see." Yuzu said as she picked up the box and left the room.

The three left in the room continued to eat until Karin stopped and threw away her empty box. She left the room and the sound of television voices filtered out of the living room.

"I have a question." Shiro said as he looked up from his box of food.

Isshin looked at him curiously, waiting for him to speak.

"How'd she die?" He saw Isshin visibly sadden at the question and he took a few moments before answering.

"She was walking Ichigo home when she was hit by a drunk driver." He gave a sad sigh before continuing.

"Ichigo saw the whole thing."

Shiro eyes widened slightly at this. He knew it was bad by the reactions of those who knew about it, but to have seen it... Shit.

A mournful silence filled the room as Isshin sat back quietly, thinking of old memories. Shiro thought reflectively about how things made more sense after hearing this.

Suddenly they heard someone running down the stairs. Yuzu came bursting into the kitchen, fresh tears running down her cheeks.

"Ichigo is gone!"

_**-AUTHOR'SNOTE-**_

Sorry about it being a cliffhanger. -_-

I saw an interesting question in the reviews by MurasakiShiori asking how long this story will be and I have been thinking about how to answer that. I have absolutely no idea.

For those who are wondering if this is going to be a yaoi or not, your question shall be answered in the next chapter because if nothing happens in that chapter it won't be. I've been wanting to write chapter 10 for a while.

Wow 35 reviews! I feel loved! :)


	10. Chapter 10

*Earlier that day*

The raindrops started to darken the light grey concrete of the sidewalk. Ichigo looked up at the iron-grey sky above him. Another cold raindrop hit him in the head and he shivered.

He was already several blocks away from the house. Where he was going he wasn't sure, he just knew he had to get away for a while. He was just letting his feet carry him anywhere, …as long as he didn't end up _there._

The rain picked up slightly and it started to make a pattering noise as it hit the sidewalk.

This day was starting to remind him a lot of _that day_. A memory threatened to push it's way to the front of his mind. He shook his head to clear it away. He wouldn't think about if he could help it.

He kept walking.

* * *

*Kurosaki kitchen*

Both Isshin and Shiro looked up in surprise.

"What?" Isshin asked, shocked.

"I went up to his room and he wasn't there so I checked all the other rooms upstairs and he wasn't in any of them either!" Yuzu wailed.

Isshin stood up and left the kitchen, Yuzu close behind. After a moment Shiro followed them. They had started up the stairs when Karin came out of the living room.

"What's happening?" She asked.

"They can't find Ichigo." Shiro told her.

Her eyes widened. She moved past him to run up the stairs to join the others who had already reached the top. Shiro moved to the top of the stairs and saw everyone else standing in the doorway of Ichigo's room. Shiro walked over and looked into the room.

The room was empty like Yuzu had said. The window was wide open and rain was coming through the window. If the puddle on the floor was anything to go by, Ichigo had left hours ago.

He saw Isshin pull out his cell phone and dialed a number. He put the phone to his ear, an anxious look on his face. A few moments later a phone started to buzz on the desk next to Ichigo's computer. Isshin shut his phone and the buzzing stopped.

"Dad, what are we going to do?" Yuzu asked in a small voice. More tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

"I'll call his friends and ask if they've seen him." Isshin began dialing another number as he went down stairs again.

Yuzu started to cry again. Karin started to rub her back comfortingly though she looked like she was on the verge of tears too. Karin started to direct Yuzu towards the stairs.

"Come on Yuzu lets go down stairs for a bit." Karin said.

"What if he's hurt Karin?" Yuzu asked.

"Don't worry, Ichigo can take care of himself." Karin said reassuringly.

Yuzu stood there for a moment before asking quietly, "What if he doesn't come back?"

"He'll come back. He always comes back." Karin said without hesitation, though it sounded like she said it to comfort herself as much as her sister.

The two girls went down the stairs leaving Shiro standing in the doorway of Ichigo's room.

Shiro walked into the room and shut the window. He watched the rain fall for a moment before turning away. Carrot-top must be an idiot for going out in this. He was about to leave the room when he stopped. He walked over to the desk, grabbed Ichigo's phone and walked out. He wasn't sure about exactly what he was going to do and he was pretty sure he wasn't going to like it either.

He walked down the stairs and past the kitchen; a quick glance into the kitchen told him that Isshin hadn't heard anything. Isshin was running a hand through his hair, a worried look on his face.

Shiro pulled on his shoes. Damn this was gonna suck, he had just gotten warmed up too. Maybe he could find an umbrella. He walked into the living room to ask Yuzu where one was.

Yuzu was sitting on the couch, still crying. Karin sat next to her and was staring into space.

"Where's the umbrella?"

Yuzu and Karin looked up at him.

"You're going to leave Shiro?" Yuzu asked in a small voice.

Shiro snorted. "Well, someone has to go look for that idiot."

Yuzu stood up and ran over to Shiro. She used her arm to wipe away the tears on her face before she looked up at him, a small smile on her face.

"Thank you." She said before she rapped her arms around his waste and gave him a hug.

Stunned, Shiro stood there stock-still even after Yuzu let go of him so she could find him an umbrella. The sound of Karin getting off the couch made him go on alert.

Shiro watched her warily as she moved towards him. He didn't think she was the type to hug but you could never be sure.

"Thanks." She said, genuine gratitude on her face.

Shiro cross his arms and looked away. "It's not a problem."

Shit, he had never realized how easy it was to make him feel awkward. Yuzu came back into the room carrying a black umbrella in her arms. Shiro took the umbrella as she handed it to him.

He left the room and went to the door. Before he opened the door he opened the umbrella.

"It's bad luck to open an umbrella in doors." Shiro turned to see Isshin watching him. Damn he was good at sneaking up on him.

"Here, take my phone with you so in case one of us finds him." Isshin held out his phone.

"Don't need it." Shiro held up Ichigo's phone as proof.

Isshin was silent for a moment. "Thank you, Shiro"

"Whatever." Shiro turned and opened the door and walked out into the rain. Was it really necessary for them to thank him?

* * *

*On the street*

Ichigo continued to aimlessly walk down the street. He had lost track of how long he had been out and he guessed it didn't matter anymore. The rain was pouring down now, just like it was that day. His hair was plastered to his head and his clothes were completely soaked through.

Looking up, he realized he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going. If he had he could have avoided this place. Damn.

The familiar street he had walked down for so many years to go to and from his dojo was in front of him. The sound of the river flowing by was a familiar sound to his ears. He could see the stop sign where he use to turn and continue to his house.

His feet continued forward against his will. The memory started to play. He quickly suppressed it again. His feet carried him closer to the stop sign. The memory was becoming harder to block. Finally he reached the sign. He couldn't hold the memory back anymore.

~_Flashback~_

-Ichigo: age 9-

_Ichigo swung the hand that was holding his mother's hand back and forth happily as talked about his day. Rain fell down around them making splattering noises as it hit Ichigo's raincoat and Masaki's umbrella._

"_I beat Akio today!" Ichigo said proudly but immediately pouted. "But Tatsuki beat me again." _

_"Don't worry about it Ichigo. You're getting better all the time." His mother smiled down at him. "I bet one of these days you'll beat Tatsuki too."_

_Ichigo looked up at his mother and gave her a big smile. She always new how to cheer him up. They continued down the street and stopped at the corner where they would turn and continue towards their home. Looked across the street grinned as he thought of an idea._

_"Mom, lets see who can run across the street the fastest!" With out waiting for an answer, Ichigo let go of his mother's hand and ran across the street as fast as he could._

_He reached the other side and realized he had reached the other side first. He turned around and smiled triumphantly. His mother was only third way across the street and he frowned when he saw she was only walking._

_"How come you're only walking?" He asked._

_"Dresses aren't the easiest thing to run in." She explained._

_"I'm sorry mommy. I'll help you cross the street." Ichigo started to walk onto the street._

_"Wait Ichigo, did you look both ways before you crossed the street?" Masaki asked._

_Ichigo quickly stepped back onto the corner and looked down the street to the left. There were no cars but he could hear an engine going somewhere. He looked to the right and didn't see anything. Satisfied that it was okay to cross, he started to walk back to where his mother waited._

_He was half way across the street when he heard a screeching sound to his right. Looking he saw truck speeding towards him._

_"Ichigo move!" He heard his mother yell at him._

_Ichigo's feet froze him in place and mind refused to work as the headlights continued to speed towards him._

_"ICHIGO!" Masaki screamed as she ran towards her son._

_Ichigo felt hands push him side ways as the truck speed past him, a loud crash sounded immediately afterwards._

_Ichigo laid dazed on road, he heard the sound of the truck fade as it drove away. His senses came back to him and he immediately sat up to look for his mom. He saw her lying face down a few feet away. He crawled over to her and gently pushed her shoulder._

_"Mom, come on. Get up."_

_She didn't move. Ichigo felt tears mix with the cold rain on his cheeks. He pushed her shoulder again with a little more force in an attempt to wake her up. She still didn't move and he felt the fear and panic build. He looked around for help but the streets were empty. He was alone._

_~End flash back~_

Ichigo leaned against the stop sign and slid down to sit on the ground. The pain and guilt of the memory made him feel colder then the rain ever could.

The rain continued to fall.

* * *

*An hour and a half later*

Shiro wanted to hit himself. Why the hell had he volunteered for this? Going out in the rain for an hour and a half, wonderful idea. He could have been stayed nice and warm inside and wait for Ichigo to come back but no, he had to be a sap and go out into the cold rain and look for him.

The phone in Shiro's hand beeped again as it tried to alert him to it's dangerously low battery. Didn't Ichigo ever charge his phone? The phone had gone off once and scared the shit out of him since he had forgotten that in was set to vibrate.

Isshin had called to tell him that none of Ichigo's friends knew where he was and hadn't seen him. Which meant he that he had to keep looking or face a crying Yuzu.

The only problem was Shiro had no idea where to look. His one and only idea was the cemetery and Ichigo hadn't been there. So Shiro had ended up just wondering the streets. He was currently walking along a street close to the river.

He looked ahead and saw someone sitting next to a stop sign. Someone with bright orange hair.

He walked towards the person and recognized him as Ichigo. Ichigo didn't look up as Shiro approached; he just continued to stare into the street.

"Your family is worried about you."

Ichigo shook his head. "They shouldn't and they wouldn't if they knew what happened."

Shiro frowned. "Okay then, what happened?"

Ichigo pulled his knees up to his chest. "It's my fault. If hadn't ran out onto the street or if I had moved out of the way she might-"

"What if!? What if kick your ass right now?" Shiro said angrily. He had spent all that time looking for him and he was just wallowing in self-pity?

"I'll leave you to your guilt trip." Shiro turned and began to walk back the way he came.

"Please, don't leave."

He almost hadn't heard Ichigo's words over the rain. Shiro stopped and looked at Ichigo from over his shoulder. Ichigo was staring blankly into the street again. Shiro sighed and pulled out Ichigo's phone, he better call Isshin and tell him where they were. He pressed several buttons but the screen stayed blank. Oh shit, it's battery died.

Now what was he gonna do? It didn't look like Ichigo was going to move anytime soon and he couldn't just leave him there. Looks like he was going to have to wait for Ichigo to decide to get up.

They stayed there for a while, the rain pouring down around them. The win started to pick up, making the rain fall side ways. When the thunder started Shiro decided it was time to get going.

"You ready to go?"

Ichigo gave a small nod before standing up, or at least trying to stand up. He stumbled and nearly fell. Shiro almost dropped the umbrella when he grabbed Ichigo's shoulders to keep him from falling down.

Shiro looked at Ichigo's face and he didn't look too good. His face was flushed and his eyes weren't focused. Shiro could feel him trembling from the cold. He just hoped Ichigo wasn't going to puke on him.

Suddenly Ichigo leaned up against Shiro and kissed him.

* * *

**-AUTHOR'SNOTE-**

…Plot twist! : D

Kamishii was gonna eat me if I didn't finish this as soon as possible. -_-"

writing that flash back made want to cry. T.T

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for any grammar mistakes. -_-


	11. Chapter 11

_**-A/N-**_

**_for the people who didn't want this to be a yaoi, if enough people ask then i'll do a non-yaoi verson._**

Shiro's eyes widened in shock as he felt Ichigo's soft lips press against his. They stood like that for a moment before Ichigo pulled away. Shiro watched as he took a few stumbling steps before he started to fall. Without thinking, Shiro moved forward and caught him before he hit the ground.

Shiro stared down at the unconscious orange-haired teen in his arms while his brain tried to figure out what had just happened. Who the hell kissed someone and then passed out? No, first things first, he could figure this crap out later.

Shiro shifted Ichigo in his arms so he could get one of his arms free. He turned Ichigo's face to get a better look at him.

He didn't look too good. His faced was flushed and he had an almost pained expression on his face. The skin that Shiro's hand was touching was far to warm for someone who had been out in the freezing rain for a few hours. Well shit, Ichigo had gone and gotten himself sick.

How was he going to get them back to the house? He couldn't call Isshin to come and get them since the phone died. He couldn't just leave Ichigo here either. Damn, this was such a pain in the ass.

Shiro took one of Ichigo's arms and slung it over his shoulder. He wrapped another hand carefully around Ichigo's waste to hold him up. Slowly he began to carry the teen down the street.

* * *

*20 minutes later*

Shiro was extremely tempted to leaving Ichigo behind at this point. Ichigo may be lighter then he looked but he was still pretty damned heavy. His ribs ached from have Ichigo's full weight leaning against him.

He looked down the street he had been dragging Ichigo. He realized with frustrated disappointment that he hadn't gotten that far; the house was still a long distance away.

Suddenly Ichigo moaned and moved slightly.

". . . . Shiro. . .wha-?" He looked around with a half-asleep look.

"You passed out on me. Now are you going to walk or am I going to have to carry your fat ass?" Shiro asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I can walk damn it." He said, though there was no heat in his voice.

To prove his point he took a few unsteady steps forward. Shiro walked up next to him, ready to catch if he fell but he didn't.

They began walking in silence back to the house, both to tired or caught up in their own thoughts to say anything. Ichigo stumbled a few times and grabbed Shiro's arm for support but didn't fall.

Finally they reached the house.

Shiro pulled open the door and pushed Ichigo in. Shiro pulled the door shut behind him.

Yuzu and Karin stepped out of the living room, their faces changed from worried and anxious to relieved and happy when they spotted Ichigo. They both ran towards their brother.

"Ichi-nii!" Yuzu yelled as she and Karin latched themselves onto him in a tight hug despite him being dripping wet.

Isshin came out of the kitchen carrying towels and wrapped one of them around Ichigo's shoulders before handing the other towel to Shiro. Isshin turned back to his son who was being scolded by an upset Karin while Yuzu continued to hug him like he was going to disappear again.

Shiro took the towel and headed up stairs to his room, to tired to deal with the emotional shit going on at the moment. He entered his room and shut the door before quickly stripping out of his rain soaked clothing. He toweled off before pulling on his pajamas and went to lie down on the bed, leaving his clothes and towel on the growing pile of dirty clothing.

His thoughts wandered to what had happened earlier. What the hell was that about? What the hell was Ichigo's problem? Kissing him out of nowhere like that.

It wasn't the fact that he had been kiss by a guy that bothered Shiro. He had actually gone out with a few guys before, partly because he was curios and partly just to piss his mom off. What bothered him was he hadn't been expecting it. Why hadn't it occurred to him that Ichigo liked him?

Or did Ichigo like him? Was it Ichigo's feelings that made him kiss Shiro or did that little fevered brain of his just randomly decide to do that? Or was it both?

"_Oh screw this shit."_ Thinking about all of this angsty emotional crap was making his head hurt. Besides, he wouldn't get any answers until he talked to Ichigo about it.

Shiro turned onto his side and tried to fall asleep, but one question kept him from doing that for some time

**. . .** Did he like Ichigo back?

* * *

*The next day*

Shiro walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where Karin sat at the table, finishing off a bowl of cereal. He went to grab a pop tart out of the cupboard when Karin got up.

"Dad wants you to give this to school office." Shiro turned around to see Karin hold out a piece of paper to him. "He was too lazy to call in and say Ichigo was sick."

Shiro took the note and shoved it into his pocket with a scowl. Shit, he had hoped to talk to Ichigo today about what happened yesterday. Ah well, it would have to wait until later whether he liked it or not.

His quest for breakfast forgotten, he left the kitchen and walked out the front door. The remaining question from last night pressed on the edges of his mind but he pushed it away. He was to pissed at the moment to think about it. Shiro wished he had something to distract him as the school came into sight.

He walked past the students that stood talking to each other while waiting for the bell to ring. He was about to pull open the door when someone called out his name.

"Shiro!" He turned to see the black haired midget and the redhead with tattoos running up to him.

"Did you find Ichigo? Is he all right?" The midget asked worriedly.

Shiro had forgotten that Isshin had called all of Ichigo's friends when they were trying to find him, shit. He just hoped that they wouldn't be asking him this all day.

"We found him. The idiot was outside and caught a cold so he couldn't come today." The two visible relaxed at this.

"Yeah that sounds like Ichigo to me." The redhead made an annoyed face.

The midget nodded. "Well at least he's alright."

Feeling that he no longer needed to explain things, Shiro pulled open the door to the school and stepped inside. A few students loitered about as Shiro passed them. He pulled open the door to the office were a woman with glasses and an expression like she's had a stick stuck up her ass was standing behind the counter.

He pulled the now wrinkled note out his pocket and dropped it on the counter. The woman picked it and glanced at it.

"Tell Mr. Kurosaki he can pick up the assignments he missed here tomorrow morning." She said while pushing her glasses back up her nose.

"Yeah, yeah." Shiro ignored the annoyed look she shot at him as he left the office.

"Shiro-san!" A high-pitched voice called his name from down the hallway.

Shiro turned around to see a blond with enormous boobs whose name he couldn't remember came running up to him.

"Is Kurosaki-kun alright?" The girl made the most worried, pitiful expression that Shiro had ever seen and made him want to vomit.

Instead he answered her, the girl leaning forward expectantly. "He's fine, just sick is all."

She frowned, "But his Dad-"

"Orihime!" A spiky dark haired girl called her name from down the hall. Orihime turned to face her and while she was distracted Shiro took the opportunity to escape the girl. It wasn't that he minded explaining, she just annoyed him.

He walked to his class and made it just before the bell rang. He sat in his seat and stared out the window while the teacher took attendance before starting in on the lesson they had started yesterday. The teacher's voice faded to the back ground as his mind began to wonder else wear.

What was he going to do about Ichigo? Technically he did have to do anything but he knew things were going to be extremely awkward between them, at least on Ichigo's part. The question that had floated around his head last night wouldn't help the situation. To tell the truth, Shiro wasn't sure if he liked Ichigo. Ichigo was obviously a caring person but he wasn't a wimp either, which kind of interested Shiro. He was also a stubborn idiot. But hey, why not give him a shot?

Shiro started to finish a doodle he had began a few days ago, since he had made his decision.

The before lunch classes passed by rather quickly, much to his annoyance. He wasn't looking forward to lunch since Ichigo's friends would probably bombard him with more questions about why Isshin had called, if Ichigo was all right, and why he wasn't at school. Questions he had already answered.

Taking a seat at his usual table, it didn't take long for Ichigo's friends to show up. To his surprise none of them asked any questions. The midget must have told them enough to satisfy them. They sat around talking to each other while he ate.

The lunch period passed by and the bell rang, forcing them to go to class. The afternoon classes were more boring then the morning ones but passed by just as quickly. Eventually the bell rang signaling the end of school.

Shiro walked the now familiar route to the Kurosaki household and stepped inside. He kicked off his shoes before heading towards the stairs. He stopped as Karin came out of the living room carrying a soccer ball.

She turned back to the living room, an annoyed look on her face. "Come on Dad, I'm going to be late for soccer practice!"

"Oh here I come my darling daughter of mine! If only Masaki could see what a soccer star you've become!" Isshin said as he skipped out of the living room.

Karin rolled her eyes. Suddenly Yuzu came running down the stairs, apron on and duster in hand. "Wait! Don't forget we have to go grocery shopping after we drop Karin off, Dad."

Isshin shook his head from side to side vigorously, "No, no, no! Daddy didn't forget my dear Yuzu."

Yuzu smiled as she took off her apron and disappeared into the kitchen only to reappear moments later, duster replaced with a piece of paper. "Okay, let's go!"

At this point Shiro had become bored with watching the family's antics and continued towards the stairs, for some reason he wanted to take a hot shower. He could find and deal with Ichigo later.

* * *

*Ichigo's room*

Ichigo groan as turned onto his side. The cold pills he had taken had made him sleep later in the day then he thought possibly. His head felt like someone had stuffed it full of cotton balls. He lay there for a few minutes before sitting up.

On his desk was a glass of water, a small plastic cup with two pills in it, and a folded up note. He took the note and opened it to see Yuzu's handwriting.

_Take these as soon as you wake Ichi-nii, so you can get better._

He gave a small smile. Yuzu was always trying to take care of everyone.

He took the pills and swallowed them before draining the glass of water. His stomach growled in hunger. Well, since he was up he might as well get something to eat.

He left the room and head down the stairs before heading into the kitchen. There he shoved a piece of bread into the toaster. A minute later a lightly browned piece of toast popped up. He picked it and took a bite before leaving the kitchen. Since he had nothing better to do he went into the living room to watch television.

He sat on the couch and turned the television on, but he wasn't paying much attention to the show that was playing. His thoughts were about what happened last night.

He knew it was a stupid thing to do. Going off without tell anyone and making his family worry. It made him feel guilty and ashamed when he remembered how upset he had made his sisters. They would forgive him if he asked but he still felt he needed to do something to make it up to them.

He also needed to thank Shiro for coming to get him when he didn't have to.

He took a bite of his toast only to almost choke on it, a sudden flashback clear in his mind. He had kissed Shiro.

He sat there completely silent.

. . . Why the hell would he do that?! He didn't like Shiro like that! He wouldn't do some thing like that; it had to be a dream or something. Yeah, just a dream.

Ichigo leaned back into the couch and tried to relax. He focused on the television program hoping to forget the newly remembered dream. The invisibly audience laughed as one the actors said something funny. After a few minutes he actually started to get interested in the show and the dream faded into the back of his mind.

Suddenly a creak from the stairs as someone walked down them captured his attention. Dismissing it as one of his sisters, he turned his attention back to the television.

"Yo." That defiantly wasn't one of his sisters.

Ichigo looked up to see Shiro leaning against the doorway of the room. His hair looked wet and there was a towel rapped around his shoulders. Ichigo felt heat start to rise in his cheeks as the dream came back full force to front of his mind. At least he could explain away the blush as part of his fever.

"So you want to explain to me why you kissed me?" Golden eyes focused on him unwaveringly.

Ichigo felt his heart jump into his throat. So it wasn't a dream. Oh hell, how was he going to explain this?

"It was nothing, don't worry about it." His cheeks were burning bright now and turned his face away from Shiro to hide his now evident blush. "Besides, it's not like I enjoyed it."

He heard Shiro move but refused look at him. He fully expected Shiro to hit him but what he actually did surprised him. Shiro's hand grabbed his chin gently and tuned his head to so they were face to face.

"So yur telling me," He paused, a smirk spreading across his face. "that you didn't enjoy this?"

Shiro pressed his lips against Ichigo's. Ichigo made an involuntary gasp of surprise, which allowed Shiro to slip his tongue inside Ichigo's mouth.

Shocked, he sat there while the sensation of Shiro's tongue exploring the inside of his mouth washed over him. It was. . . actually kind of enjoyable. Ichigo relaxed slightly, barely noticing when his own mouth began kissing back.

He shivered when he felt a cool hand slide underneath his shirt and slide slowly over his stomach.

Suddenly they heard the front door open. "Ichi-nii! We're back!"

The sound of Yuzu's voice made Ichigo realize what he was doing and he pulled away from Shiro. Shiro didn't resist and he smirked at Ichigo befoe calmly walking out of the room.

Ichigo was almot sure he saw Shiro lick his lips as he left.

* * *

**-AUTHOR'SNOTE-**

I finally decided to get my fat butt moving and update, plus i'm getting tired of Kamishi hitting me every time she sees me because i haven't updated. -_-"

I'm not sure if like this chapter or not but i definatly like the endind ;p

I love the reactions for the last chapter, especially Tealeyedbeing's, that made me laugh.


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